Artist of the Year – Karl S. Williams

Karl S. Williams grew up in a nowhere rural river town and somewhere between the flooded cane fields and deep forests came to identify with the music of the southern United States. His sound is strongly influenced by the blues of the Mississippi delta but also spirituals, country gospel, Appalachian banjo tunes and swampy soul. This music, he believes, encapsulates the essential human spirit and to embody this essence is his stated goal with every song and every performance until the end of his days. The response to his debut album Heartwood has been unequivocal. Noel Mengel from The Courier Mail said it “…is so good it might even save your life” and Peter Noble of Bluesfest called it one of the great Australian albums of 2014, saying “every track is a knockout”. This has led to much lauded appearances at music festivals including A Festival Called Panama (TAS), Blues In Bridgetown (WA), Queenscliff Music Festival (VIC), Woodford Folk Festival (QLD), Big Pineapple Festival (QLD) and Festival Of The Sun (NSW) as well as supporting shows with national treasures such as Tex Perkins, Busby Marou, Darren Middleton and Matt McHugh. In 2014 Karl travelled to New York for CMJ Music Marathon and played in Hollywood venues. He signed his first record deal in 2014 switching from indie artist to being nationally distributed through Warner Music Australia.